Genesis 22 ... Viewing the works of God through scripture

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:and he said, Behold, here I am. 

2 And HE (God) said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

  
(Notice God refers to Abraham's "only son", Isaac.  This was God's view of the situation.  Isaac was the only son of the promise, not of the will of the flesh as was Ishmael.)

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. 

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father:and he said, Here am I, my son. And he (Isaac) said, Behold the fire and the wood:but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:so they went both of them together. 

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 

(Nothing, no one, was more important to Abraham than the Word of God.)

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham:and he said, Here am I. 12 And he (the angel) said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 

(Again God calls Isaac "the only son" of Abraham.)

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. 

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh:as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
 
15 And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 

19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

I have an understanding that this is the same with us, the people of God.  We are a blessing because we have obeyed the voice of God.

At the discount store, Costco, I was changing my membership to a business membership which is registered tax deductible for ministry purchases.  (I will still pay tax on personal purchases.)  The young woman changing the membership for me mentioned credit card and I told her I didn't even want the one I was having to use for Costco because I normally use a Visa card and it has $15,000 line of credit.  (all I need and then some)

The young woman said, "WOW ... that could really get you in trouble."

I replied, "Not me for I don't want anything so it's no problem.  I have everything."

This young woman was so shocked that there was nothing in this world that I want.  It is a totally different way for people to live.  It came from the Bible.  I Timothy 6...

5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness:from such withdraw thyself.
 
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil:which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
 
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

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Col. 3 ... 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

When we live this way, we are a blessing as Abraham obeyed God and people were blessed because he obeyed God.

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I Jn. 2 ...  15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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Mt. 6 ... Jesus says ... 

 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow:for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.